The Sanctuary

As I listen to the birds happily singing and watch them tending their nests I'm reminded of how God cares for them daily. I'm also reminded of how much more God cares for us and of a particular ride my husband and I went on one beautiful, sunny morning a few years back.

We had been invited to a pool party by a group of our riding friends. It was a couple of hours away so we took the better part of a beautiful, sunny day to ride, spent the afternoon with some awesome friends and headed home planning to "beat dark". Storms weren't in the forecast and not factored into our timetable.

As we continued to chat we noticed dark clouds sporadically meandering above us. Checking the radar we saw storms popping up and rapidly heading our way. We quickly gathered our stuff, said our goodbyes and decided to take the interstate home to save time. Almost immediately we knew we were in for more than we had planned on this relaxing Saturday. The beautiful, sunny ride from just a few hours earlier faded from my mind as quickly as those clear blue skies faded from my rear-view mirror. As the rain fell and the traffic kicked up a mist I was reminded of another storm I was caught in not too long after I began riding. I was also reminded of the sweet presence of my Heavenly Father and how He wrapped His arms around me, peacefully surrounded me on my bike and brought me home. That was over ten years ago and while it was a totally different feeling now I still trusted He would see me through this storm as well.

Almost all the way home the rain wasn't heavy - mostly just a steady nuisance. As we parted ways with the last of our riding companions we were about 45 minutes away...in the home stretch...and then...there they were up in from of us. Dark, rolling clouds accompanied with the winds we are so familiar with in these Alabama storms. Now we had to add a minor detail to our plan of beating dark - beating this storm. The only problem was the storm clouds were in front of us. We were leaving the little nuisances we knew we could get through and headed for something that was looking more and more intimidating as we sped toward it.

Five miles from home the storm hit in all of it's fury. Lightning seemed to be hemming us in from all sides (except where we had come from - the rear mirror view was looking better and better!); thunder exploded and rolled making the darkness seem even more threatening. We weren't going to make it home in this so we cut off and made a dash for our church. Just as we whipped under it's large, inviting "front porch" the bottom fell out. As the storm unleashed it's fury, with us sheltered just out of harms way, my husband pointed to the sign above where we parked. "Sanctuary". We hadn't made it home yet but we were much closer than we had been and, once again, God had gotten me to a safe place - His Sanctuary - until we could resume our ride home.

Today many of my friends are riding through a storm. The view in the rear mirror doesn't look nearly as bad as you had thought before you rode head long into the current storm. Don't give up! Don't think you are left to battle this storm alone! From your deserts to your seas God will bring you to yet another sanctuary. One that He has provided beforehand to shelter you during your journey. Trust in Him to get you home. Even if storms aren't factored into your timetable God knew they were coming and has already made provisions to shelter you until you can make it safely home.

"He Stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed." Psalm 107:29

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